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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23549122">Birthdays</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceGhostHost/pseuds/AceGhostHost'>AceGhostHost</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Birthday, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, sometime after HoO</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:01:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,139</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23549122</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceGhostHost/pseuds/AceGhostHost</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico hated birthdays. Especially his own. He hadn’t always hated them, but there didn’t really seem to be much worth celebrating now. If he thought hard enough, he could remember his last birthday and if he had the choice to forget it all over again, he would.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nico di Angelo &amp; Will Solace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Birthdays</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nico hated birthdays. Especially his own. He hadn’t always hated them, but there didn’t really seem to be much worth celebrating now. If he thought hard enough, he could remember his last birthday with his mother and Bianca, and even </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> hadn’t been a true celebration. They had been hiding in a hotel, the details were very blurry to him now, but he knew that it had definitely been a hotel. His father had given them enough gold drachmas to last a long while and it had been Bianca’s idea to splurge on a single slice of chocolate cake from room service. When it had arrived, she’d split it two ways. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Straight down the middle?” Nico had asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Straight down the middle,” she’d agreed as she sliced him a sizably larger half. They had polished off their cake in record time, and their mother had smiled and turned a blind eye while Nico licked the plate clean. Bianca was giggling and nudged his shoulder as she wiped the chocolate from his face. Then the air seemed to crackle. There was a loud boom overhead and Nico’s ears popped. Suddenly everything seemed to be sinking into shadows as if the room itself were being dragged into the carpet. Nico’s heart was pounding in his chest and he looked up to his mother who was sitting off to the side, arms resting delicately on her lap. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Children, your father’s come to visit,” she said, an emotion in her voice that he just couldn’t place. They rounded up a few items and headed down the grand staircase to the main entrance. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nico didn't like the feeling that his father's presence gave off, so Bianca distracted him by starting a little game of tag. The game made Nico forget that there was thunder rolling overhead or that they were hiding from their "relatives" as their mother had put it. Then suddenly there was a monstrous sound that tore straight through his very being and everything went black. When he groggily came to, he and his sister were lying on the only intact piece of the lobby floor, and all that was left of the grand staircase was a steaming crater. Everything was numb and Nico could feel something. He felt his mother's presence, but now it was more of a soft tug on his mind rather than his heart. She was somewhere far away and Father was furious. That's where his memory ends. That's what he was left with for his last birthday celebration.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was the first time he felt a spirit enter the Underworld. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His childhood had ended at six. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In some ways he's glad that he had lost his memory of that last birthday for so long, but the next birthday he could remember was not anything worth celebrating either. That was his first birthday without his sister. He'd spent it alone on the side of the River Styx with the unfulfilled hopes and dreams of the departed floating past him in a dark, swirling current. Everything about his birthday was pain, loneliness, and darkness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nico was sitting in the dark on his bed in the Hades cabin when he heard a knock at the door. He willed the shadows to unlock it and then called out "It's open!" but the door remained shut.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Uhg,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nico thought to himself, </span>
  <em>
    <span>for the love of Zeus can't you just open the damn door?</span>
  </em>
  <span> After a minute, the knock came again and Nico rolled lazily out of bed, making his way to the door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't see why you can't open a damn-" Nico stepped back quickly as the door flew open and sunlight flooded the cabin. "What the--!?" When his eyes finally adjusted, he saw a boy standing in the doorway with blond hair framing his face like a halo. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ironic,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nico thought, </span>
  <em>
    <span>the little demon acts like an angel.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Said angel took two steps into the cabin, beaming from ear to ear. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Will, what did I tell you about sending sunlight into my room?" Will looked back at him, a sheepish smirk on his face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You said not to..." The sunlight retreated from the cabin, leaving only a slight glow on the surfaces of everything in it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Why are you here anyways?" Nico appreciated the company, but he would never straight up admit it to him. The kid was cocky enough as it is. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"They called an emergency meeting at the mess hall." Will said, his smile fading a bit. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh great, what is it this time?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I think the questers are back, it's about a thing they found or something." Nico didn't see why that would call for an emergency meeting, but seeing as he is the head of the Hades cabin, he couldn't skip out on it. They made their way down to the mess hall, Will chatting all the way about how the gift of prophecy isn't back yet and how he still doesn't know where his dad is, but Ella's reciting lines of a new prophecy that might help them, et cetera et cetera. When they finally reached the mess hall, everything was eerily quiet. Nico looked to Will for an explanation, but just got a shrug. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Will... Where is every--" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"SURPRISE!!!!!" Campers appeared out of thin air and Nico stumbled backward as he took in the sound. Will caught him and hoisted him back up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What...? What's this?" Nico looked back over to Will, this time demanding an explanation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Happy Birthday, Nico," Will grinned and pulled him in for a hug. When Nico was let go, he narrowed his eyes at Will. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But how did you... Oh my gods." Out of the crowd walked Hazel. "Hazel! Oh gods did you... Did you do all this?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She smiled. "I might've been the only one who new your birthday, but I had some help." She waved back to the crowd and six campers stepped forward: Reyna, Piper, Jason, Percy, Annabeth, and Frank. "And of course Will had a hand in it too." Nico didn't know what to say. He saw all of the campers smiling back at him and thought about what Will had said last summer. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You have friends- or at least people who would </span>
  </em>
  <span>like</span>
  <em>
    <span> to be your friend.</span>
  </em>
  <span> If he'd doubted it at all before this point, there was no point denying it now. His friends were all there, and even some campers he didn't recognize. And as if the day couldn't get any better, a crowd of Aphrodite kids rolled forward a table adorned with a large chocolate cake. "</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>We know you might've not been part of the prophecy," Will said, "but you still deserve a great day of celebration!" He pulled him into a tight hug again and Nico smiled into the curve of Will’s shoulder. Maybe Nico didn't hate birthdays after all...</span>
</p>
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